What a 40-year wallpaper master
thinks about
while hanging a single sheet
"Wallpaper is the breath of a home." Why the old master chose paste over paint.
I first met him on the 3rd floor of an old villa in Mapo-gu, Seoul. In his figure climbing the aged stairs, you could feel the years. His back was slightly bent, his knuckles thick. But the moment he spread out the wallpaper, those hands became something else entirely.
Master Park came to Seoul from his hometown in Gyeongnam at twenty. A young man lost over "what to do to make a living" happened to follow along to a wallpapering site. That was 1985.
10 minutes to read the wall, 3 hours to hang it
Before starting, the master always walks slowly around the entire room. He touches the walls, checks the corners, examines the window frames. That takes a full 10 minutes.
"What are you looking at so closely?" I asked.
That day I learned that 40 years of experience piles up not in the hands, but in the eyes.
- Check the corners first. Peeling and mold mostly start at the corners. Clean corners are a sign the wall is in good shape.
- Push the wall with your palm. If it shakes or echoes, the drywall is lifted. Hang paper in this state and you'll redo it within 1–2 years.
- Always treat mold traces before hanging. Cover it over and it comes back in 6 months. You must apply anti-mold treatment first.
- Don't work on humid days. Wallpaper hung on a rainy day wrinkles as it dries. The master checks the weather forecast daily.
40 years in one tub of paste
There was something unusual in the master's tool bag. Not store-bought ready-made paste, but paste he mixed himself.
"These days everyone uses paste from the store. Because it's convenient. But I mix it the way I learned 40 years ago. The consistency has to differ for each type of wallpaper."
"Good wallpapering isn't done by the paper.
It's done by the paste."
He uses a different paste consistency for silk wallpaper, paper-backed, and natural wallpaper. Too thin and the paper slides down; too thick and air gets trapped and bubbles form. Feeling this balance with his fingertips took 10 years, he said.
"If the first sheet is wrong, the last one is too"
The master said there's exactly one most careful moment when starting a job. It's the moment of hanging the very first sheet.
"If the first sheet is off by 1mm, the last sheet is off by 5cm. So I always measure the plumb line for the first sheet. Even after 20 years of wallpapering, you can't skip this."
- Always set a vertical reference line. The building itself is often not vertical. Use a door or window frame as your base and it'll go off later.
- On a wall with a window, start beside the window. Patterned wallpaper looks best symmetrical around the window.
- Cut the power before working on outlets/switches. Paste getting in risks a short circuit. Always flip the breaker off.
- Wait 5 minutes after pasting. Hang it once the paste has soaked in and the paper has expanded, and no wrinkles form after drying.
- Don't run the AC or a fan while working. Dry it too fast and the paste won't spread evenly, causing bubbles. Natural drying is best.
What he learned in the 3,000th home
I asked him, who has papered over 3,000 homes' walls in 40 years, "Is there a home you remember most?"
He thought for a long while, then said this.
That day he pressed the wallpaper's corner once more with his finger to check. Even though the paper was already perfectly stuck.
"The wall is the first thing you see in a home.
I work thinking my name hangs on that wall."
The master's words for readers
As the interview wrapped up, I asked the master: "Is there something you'd really like people who are about to hire a wallpaperer to know?"
He thought for a moment, then counted on his fingers one by one.
- 1️⃣Decide the wallpaper type in advance and show it. Paper-backed, silk, and natural wallpaper differ in price and method. Show it directly for an accurate quote.
- 2️⃣If there's mold, always say so first. Hiding it makes bigger problems later. Say it early and you can discuss treatment together.
- 3️⃣Schedule the work around your move date. Ventilate at least 24–48 hours after papering. Avoid moving in the same day.
- 4️⃣Keep the doors closed for 2–3 days after. Slow drying, not fast, extends the wallpaper's life.
- 5️⃣Ask how they handle corners. One question — "How do you finish the corners?" — tells you whether it's a skilled master.
He goes to work again today
After the interview, I asked how he came to know PanSol.
He's booked solid through the end of next month. Getting a 5.0 rating on PanSol was only natural.
40 years ago, a brush picked up to make a living
warmed 3,000 homes.
Today too, his hands prepare someone's new beginning.
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